Clare council to fly Palestinian flag for a week in show of solidarity
Clare County Council also passed a motion calling on government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill
The Palestinian flag will be flown outside Áras Contae an Chláir for one week, as a demonstration of solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Councillor for Ennis Municipal District Tommy Guilfoyle put forward the motion at the October meeting of Clare County Council this Tuesday, where councillors also voted to call on the government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and cut ties with Israel.
Cllr Guilfoyle's motion called for the Palestinian flag to be flown outside the Áras as a symbolic act that "would underscore our support for international law, the International Court of Justice, and the principles of human rights".
"We currently have people living in Ennis now who have come from Palestine, men, women and children and to fly their flag at a moment when their country has been decimated for one week outside the hall of their new local government when they become new Irish, I think they'll never forget that," the Sinn Fein councillor said after his motion was passed unanimously.
"They could grow into our community and be part of our community on the back of symbolic gestures like this in a more easy manner."
Councillors also voted in favour of a motion put forward by Cllr Guilfoyle's Shannon party colleague, Cllr Donna McGettigan, which called on the "Irish Government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill, to cut Irish trade ties with Israeli goods and services produced in these illegal settlements".
Independent Senator Francis Black, who first introduced the bill to the Dáil and, and her Senead colleague Eileen Flynn were in the public gallery as many councillors spoke in support of the motion.
Mayor of Clare and Cathaoirleach Alan O'Callaghan led all present in the council chamber in a minutes silence.
Cllr McGettigan thanked her fellow councillors for the support, saying she was "very proud of all here that supported this motion".
"This is a very, very somber, and very poignant moment. And I want to thank Alan our Cathaoirleach for having that minute's silence that really added our support and show that we do care," she concluded.
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